Russia has claimed Ukraine attacked Moscow with at least five drones that were all either shot down or jammed, though one of the capital’s main airports had to reroute flights for several hours.
Four Ukrainian drones were shot down by Moscow air defences on Tuesday morning while a fifth was jammed and crashed into the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region, the Russian defence ministry said. No one was injured.
Russian news agencies reported that two drones were intercepted near a village 19 miles (30km) south-west of the Kremlin. One drone was detected in the neighbouring Kaluga region.
Landings and takeoffs at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport were restricted for several hours early in the morning. Normal operations resumed after 0600 BST. A number of flights from Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt were diverted.
One drone was shot down in the area of the town of Kubinka, 40 miles (63km) west of Moscow, the state news agency RIA reported. An air base is located just outside the town.
Russia’s foreign and defence ministries denounced the attack as terrorism.
“The Kyiv regime’s attempt to attack an area where civilian infrastructure is located, including the airport, which incidentally also receives foreign flights, is yet another act of terrorism,” Maria Zakharova, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said.
“The international community should realise that the United States, Britain, France – permanent members of the UN security council – are financing a terrorist regime,” she added.
There was no immediate comment from Kyiv. Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.
Drone attacks deep inside Russia, have increased over recent months with attacks on the Kremlin in May and on Russian oil infrastructure last month.
After May’s drone attack on the capital, President Putin said Ukraine was trying to scare and provoke Russia, adding that the capital’s air defences would be strengthened.
“At this moment, the attacks have been repelled by air defence forces,” Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, said on his Telegram messaging channel. “All detected drones have been eliminated.”
Source : TheGuardian
